One thing I had completely forgotten about is how communal popular books can be. A few people have spotted “A Game of Thrones” in my pocket or saw me reading it on the subway and then started friendly conversations with me about it, something that never would have happened if I were reading it on my phone, where every book is effectively invisible to everyone but me.

Khoi Vinh perfectly describes one of the more subtle issues with everything shifting to digital: Nobody knows whether you’re reading a book, playing or just texting on your phone, it’s all reduced to touching a piece of glass.